Yesterday we checked out of Hostel Limoncocha after good breakfast and having our laundry done for us. It was a holiday for Ecuadorians, the Independence of Cuenca, and the people in Tena were also celebrating their centennial with some food booths set up.
We had requested a private driver to take us from the hostel to our next destination, Yachana Lodge, about two and a half hours away. Arturo, an employee of the lodge, showed up right on time at 12 p.m. in his one-month-old Chevy club cab truck that was beautiful. A bridge had failed on the main road between the two places, so he had to take another route that included many miles on gravel. He was a careful driver but the gravel didn’t slow him down.
What did slow us was the fact that a ferry crossing the Napo River couldn’t take on its normal payload of two cars because overnight the gravel ramp was covered with mud from a high river flow. (Remember all the rain during the previous evening in Tena?) As we watched and while Nathan took pictures, a man with a high pressure water hose washed the mud away from the gravel ramp. At 2 p.m., we were the first to use the ferry to cross the river that day. But we only had to wait about 15 minutes while the clearing was done. It took maybe five minutes to cross once we were on.
We arrived at Yachana Lodge about 2:30 p.m. and were welcomed by Robert, the manager of operations. He is Ecuadorian and has great English. We were given refrigerated wet hand towels to freshen up, juice and a wonderful lunch right away. Robert explained a few things about the lodge and nonprofit foundation that it supports, then he showed us to our cabin. It’s elevated on a hillside overlooking the Napo River. Spectacular!
He invited us to the deck next to the open air dining area at 4:30, where he had set up a bird spotting scope. The deck also had a view of the river. Jefferson, a 17-year-old Kichwa birding guide, joined us. We saw quite a few birds from the deck. Dinner was another delicious meal at 7 p.m. and then we went on a night walk for a ways down the gravel drive and back, spotting lots of grasshoppers, katydids, and spiders including two different types of tarantulas.
We returned about an hour later. It had been hot and humid, so I took a refreshing cold shower (even though there was lots of hot water) and went to sleep early to be ready for more birding on Tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m.
Today, Robert, Jefferson and his father Guillermo (who is the real birding expert), Hilary, an American volunteer here, and I left in a utility truck in which the bed was fitted with several bench seats. The driver brought us to a partially cleared area where we birded for about 3 hours while walking along a gravel road.
We returned in the truck to the lodge for breakfast and Nathan joined us. Then after lunch and 30 minutes to prepare, we left again to go to a trail that led to three bird blinds. It was quite a hike in the heat and humidity, up and down hills, but we saw four species of manakins and many other birds. It lasted about 2.5 hours and tired me out.
Returning again to the lodge, we were greeted by the owner, Douglas McMeekin, who has lived in Ecuador for more than 30 years and started the Yachana nonprofit to provide a local health clinic, plus the lodge. Over lunch he told us his interesting history and that of Yachana. He’s 82 years old now.
Now we’re taking a break before going on a shorter bird walk to see other species at dusk. And when I arrived in the cabin to write this, at 2:30 p.m., my phone said that it’s 94 degrees but feels like 103 due to the humidity. It’s hot but beautiful here!
Lori's Travels 